


I Told You I Loved You (In A Furnace)

by June (Juno)



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Female Friendship, Female Sole Survivor OC, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 02:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12245754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juno/pseuds/June
Summary: June Rockwell regales Ellie Perkins with the story of how she finally convinced Nick Valentine that yes, she really actually is in love with him with a capital L. While they were standing next to a vat of molten metal in Saugus Ironworks.AKA my personal love letter to everyone's favorite synth detective. Jackass.





	I Told You I Loved You (In A Furnace)

**Author's Note:**

> Recommended listening: Bing Crosby's "It's been a long, long time", Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots "I'm beginning to see the light".

 “You finally told him?” Ellie’s eyes flared wide and she cast a quick glance around the cluttered room. Nick Valentine had stepped out to pick up cigarettes. She and June Rockwell were alone in the office, and she had taken Nick’s absence as an opportunity to indulge in a little nosiness.

“Yep.” June wore a barely concealed smile and lit herself a cigarette. “It was so romantic, Ellie. We were right next to giant furnace. It looked just like lava.”

One of Ellie’s eyebrows rose noticeably. “Next to a _furnace_? Like a furnace used to melt down metal?” June nodded, cigarette light bobbing in the dimness.

“Just like that. It was like being lit by firelight. It was so beautiful, Ellie,” she allowed herself to gush a little. Both of them knew how long she had kept a small, but strong, flame for Nick Valentine. And that he had always skirted the subject, deftly evading any talk of the obvious tension between them.

“I just couldn’t wait any longer, you know? It’s been almost six months. I _knew_ he felt the same way.” Ellie nodded sympathetically, a small exasperated smile on her face. She knew exactly what Nick was like, and how surprisingly stubborn he could be when it came to discussing anything personal. The two women had often bonded over a shared sadness for his obvious insecurities, though neither would ever let on to him that they felt that way.

“So I can guess that he said yes. What happened?” Ellie perched closer to June, now quite keen on the details. Though June always wore enormous white framed sunglasses, even indoors, she could see the look mirrored on her face. June stubbed out her cigarette.

“We had just taken down a gang of raiders, only they called themselves “The Forged”. Their leader was a real piece of work, called himself Slag. He was about to kill some poor farmer’s kid that got himself in way over his head, but we managed to intervene in time and he was saved,” June paused for a moment to light another cigarette. After realizing she was a synth, she saw no reason to not smoke as much as she truly liked now.

“Anyway, the kid took off back to his family and Nick and I were in the furnace room. He had been so bold about saving that young man. He always is, of course, you know how he is. He could have given the Silver Shroud a run for his money for “Most Heroic Man in Boston” I bet,” She and Ellie shared a small laugh. “I don’t know. The timing just felt right somehow.”

At this, June’s face softened and she let herself become absorbed in the memory. Ellie leaned forward again, listening raptly.

***

It was hot as hell in the furnace room of Saugus Ironworks. Slag’s body had drifted completely under the surface of the molten metal, leaving June and Nick alone in the room. The ceiling rose high above them, with battered metal staircases lining each wall, stairs worn treacherously thin with disrepair. June was tucking Abraham Finch’s sword into the bag she carried for safe keeping.

“I just wanted to say again,” Nick started, “Sorry, for putting you in the middle of my business with Eddie Winter. It wasn’t fair to you. But I’m damn grateful that you did, June, I don’t think I could have done it without your help.”

June threw him a lopsided smile. They had had this conversation a few times now.

“You don’t have to apologize again, Nick. You helped me take down Kellogg. It was the least I could do.”

“I mean it,” Nick continued, twisting away from her so that he was facing the intensity of the furnace. “I never had the time to go running after all those tapes. Even with the occasional partner, I just never had the kind of time it would take to go hiking around the entire Commonwealth.”

“You mean doing something for only your own benefit?” June replied evenly. Nick turned back to her, his face unreadable.

“Of course I mean that,” His voice had a terse edge to it. “I couldn’t justify that kind of time or resources, even without sleeping or eating. Not when so many people out here need a hand.” Ever dutiful.

June stepped closer to Nick, the molten metal illuminating them more brightly than if they’d been in sunlight. They shared a comfortable companionship, and it wasn’t unusual for them to stand shoulder to shoulder, taking in the breathtaking views of the savaged Commonwealth. She threaded her fingers through his, flesh on metal. For once, Nick didn’t draw away or make any self deprecating jokes.

“Nick,” she began, “All you ever do is help people. You’re allowed to be happy too.” She looked over at him. His mouth was firmly set, yellow ringed eyes cast down into the flames as if in a trance. She pushed on further, feeling emboldened.

“We’ve done a lot of good out there for the people, and I couldn’t have done it without you either, you know. Without you Nick, I wouldn’t have even found Kellogg, let alone Shaun.” Though they shared no true biological ties, her throat would forever tighten at the mention of her lost son. “That’s because of you, Nick. _You_. Not the cop who lived two hundred years ago.”

Nick’s hand wound more tightly around her own.

“You’re the one true tether I have in this new world. I care about a lot of people, I really do. I love Shaun, the Minutemen, the Railroad. I care about Mamy Murphy, Jun, Marcy, Sturges. But—“ She paused, swallowing past the nervous lump in her throat. Nick seemed to watch her with baited breath.

“But I _love_ you, Nick. You gave me a reason to keep going. When I thought Shaun was lost to me forever, you were there. When I learned who Shaun really was, you inspired me to keep at it. I never would have found the strength to continue and do my best to help people if I hadn’t had your support. I pushed the _button_ —“ Here she paused, pushing her glasses up to wipe at her eyes with her free hand, voice cracking. “You reassured me. Part of me wanted to jump off that goddamn building for everything I’d done, even though I know it was the right thing to do.”

Nick opened his mouth, surely to make some claim that he had merely been backing _her_ up, but June spun to face him directly, their hands still threaded together. Her brows were knit, jaw set firmly. They were very nearly the same height, Nick only a couple inches taller.

“Don’t. Nick, I’m tired of skirting around this. You have to know how I feel about you.” It had been a long six months. June had felt this way since nearly the day they had met. It had been all too easy to largely forget Nate, especially when she had never truly known him anyway. She would always have a soft spot for the man she “remembered” loving and bearing a child with, but he wasn’t tangible, not in the way Nick Valentine was.

Nick withdrew his hand, his expression stiffening. “You don’t mean that, June. Look at me, _look at me_ ,” Nick stepped back, making a sweeping gesture with his metal hand, from head to toe. “I’m a worn out old bot. I’m falling apart. You can’t honestly mean what you’re saying.” His voice had a different strain that usual. His arched brows almost formed a connected line, and his expression looked pained.

“Why?” June’s voice rose unintentionally, “Why is it so hard to believe I love you, Nick? After everything we’ve been through, after everything you’ve seen. You can’t even use the excuse of being different species, I’m a synth just like you.”

“ _Not_ just like me,” Nick snapped back heatedly. June looked wounded for a moment, causing Nick’s expression to soften.

“What if I told you that I don’t care?” June spoke more softly now. “Would you be offended to know that I love every inch of you as you are?” She stepped forward, drawing her hand down the ragged side of Nick’s face, sweeping past the exposed wires and gears in his jaw and neck, finally ending in drawing his metal hand into her own. She lifted that hand to her lips and kissed it tenderly, as though it were made of delicate flesh and bone. Nick’s eyes widened.

“You think. You _feel_. You’re as much a man to me as any I’ve know, hell, more than that. There are few people in the Commonwealth with as much humanity as you have, Nick.”

Nick stumbled out a few half words. If he possessed blood vessels, he was certain he would be blushing at the bold declaration of love June had just given him. She presented him with a smile, one more genuine than he had seen in a long time.

“Well… well I wouldn’t mind that at all. Of course.” He fiddled with the brim of his hat. “I just… You really do feel that way?” It wasn’t a question as much as an awed statement. “I never thought you would, you know. Ellie was always telling me that you had something for me, and of course I _noticed_ , but…” He trailed off again. He lifted their hands up together, splaying their fingertips. Despite their similar heights, her fingers weren’t quite as long as his, metal stems protruding just past the soft pads of her fingertips. She gave him her usual crooked smile, and he couldn’t tell if the warmth in her cheeks was from him or the lake of liquid metal they stood next to.

Without warning, he seized her in a hug, wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he dared, and he felt an immense relief when she responded immediately, burying her face into his worn and battered lapel. They stood like that for a long time, holding on to each other as though they were the only person each had left in the world.

***

Ellie was grinning ear to ear.

“I knew it! I knew he was just being… himself,” she trailed off somewhat lamely. June understood what she meant. She was well into her fourth cigarette now, and sharing a smile as broad as Ellie’s.

“I wouldn’t think confessing your love next to a vat of lava would be romantic, but you two have always walked to the beat of a different drum. But come on,” Ellie leaned forward conspiratorially toward June, her face suddenly mischievous. “You two kissed right?”

“A gentleman doesn’t tell.”

Ellie nearly jumped straight out of her skin at the worn hand patting her gently on the head, June’s cigarette sailing through the air as both women startled. Nick swiftly stamped on the cigarette after it landed, narrowly avoiding a stray file on the ground. He bent and kissed June on the cheek, chuckling as the two composed themselves.

“Nick!” Ellie huffed, straightening her hair, crimson creeping into her cheeks. June didn’t look much better, though she laughed as well. “How long have you been in here?”

“Long enough,” he smiled. “I only stepped out for a pack of smokes, you know.” Ellie set about shuffling papers, mostly to hide her still red face. Nick offered the fresh pack to June, lighting the cigarette she selected.

“Well I’m glad you two worked it out. God knows it’s been long enough. I knew you two would make good partners,” Ellie said smugly as she worked, gathering papers into a folder. “Which reminds me. You’ve got a new case, Nick, remember Mr. Nakano?” Nick leaned on the arm of June’s chair, their hands finding one another, the air in the office suddenly turning to business. After listening to Ellie recap the sparse details of the case, Nick sighed with a resigned smile aimed at June.

“It’s a long walk. That’s how the hard cases always start…”

_But at least I’m with you._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! This was based on my personal gameplay experience, and I drew a lot of inspiration from the Nick Valentine Romance mod found on the Nexus, which I highly recommend and cannot live without. Seriously Bethesda, what the hell.


End file.
